One Kiss (Editing)

Chapter 6

I walk up the stairs and into the room where the boys sit. They're still silent.

Lucas looks angry, Justin looks upset, Kenan looks confused, and Caleb... Caleb looks, well, scared. Scared of what? That I liked it? Was it him? Or did he not like the mystery guy?

I could probably stand here and ask myself questions that I know would never get answered, but that's pointless.

I shake my head and slouch out of the room. I feel as upset as Justin looked. I don't like secrets, and this is a secret I need to find out.

I walk into the den and see that the bowl is gone

"Where's the bowl?" I ask.

"They took it away. Said the boys couldn't handle not getting to kiss the girls they wanted to," a girl named Sandra Flick says. Michaela looks up at me from her phone.

"Bad news, Callie," she says with a worried expression. "Gwen's texting everyone about the game, and said that the guy refused to go kiss you when he was picked."

"What?" I exclaim. "Obviously not, since I came here looking like I got slapped in the face. Whoever kissed me should be given an award. He was good."

My cheeks get red as the little group around me laughs at that, except for Michaela.

"Do you know who it was," she asks warily. "Because it wasn't Lucas, because Lucas wasn't happy. We could hear it in here. The bottle spun, it landed, and then he sounded pissed."

It wasn't Lucas, I already knew that by the look on his face. Who was it? It wasn't Justin, since he was in the den for the first couple spins, and they wouldn't just let him in for me. Maybe that would explain why he looked upset, because he didn't get to play.

Who could it have been? I have to admit, all of the guys in there are cute. Even Caleb, though I'd deny it if I was asked.

This is all so puzzling, and honestly, all this thinking is making me thirsty.

"I'm going to go get a drink," I say with a sigh.

I walk out of the room to the kitchen, where all the snacks and drinks are.

I grab a cup of punch later "non-alcoholic," we I have to drive. I start to take a sip, but I don't get much in my mouth before someone shoves my arm. I dump the rest of the red juice onto my new pink blouse.

"Hey! What the hell?!" I look up and, guess my luck, I see Gwen and her stupid little gang.

"Oops. Sorry. I guess I thought if you got that hideous rag stained, you'd go home and take the smell with you. I was just doing the guys a favor," she says innocently.

Now I'm mad. "The biggest favor you could do for them is to take your face and break some mirrors elsewhere." That sounded good... I think.

Her face contorts into something I can't even describe, and she pulls her hand back. She then punches me so hard, that the cup I had been crushing in my hand flew halfway across the room. I fell to the ground with a scream.

"Get your ass out of my house!" She screams at me.

I'm too shocked to cry, though the blow hit hard. And it hurts. It hurts really bad. I feel like there's a gong going off next to my head

"Omigod, Callie!" Michaela runs into the kitchen and to my side. "What the hell did that witch do to you?!" she shouts, though it sounds faint.

I hear thundering feet coming down the hall towards the kitchen. The door from the hallway that leads to the family room swings open, and all of the boys pile into the kitchen.

"What the hell?!" I hear Caleb yell barely over the ringing.

"What happened?" Lucas asks the girls around me.

"I don't know," Jessica Miller answers. "We heard a shout and scream and ran in here, and Gwen was standing over Callie, and Callie was on the floor holding her face."

Justin rushes forward and kneels in front of me. I look into his golden eyes. "Are you okay?" he asks, his eyes holding anger and concern.

I don't know, but I nod anyway. I grab his hand and he pulls me up. Lucas pushes him away to give me a hug.

"I'm sorry, Callie," he says sadly. "My sister can be a real bitch sometimes. I don't know what's wrong with her. I mean her mind, not her face. I know what's wrong with her face."

I laugh weakly at that, which makes him happy. He pulls back and looks at me. He has deep brown eyes and dark brown hair, which I didn't notice until now match perfectly.

Lucas turns around and finds his sister. He stomps towards her, grabs her wrist, and rips her out of he room. The ringing has subsided, and I hear shouting from the other room.

"Why do you hate her? What has she ever done to you?" I hear Lucas yell.

"Everything! She took my first boyfriend, she makes fun of me in front of my friends, and she's trying to make you hate me," Gwen cries. I would feel bad for her if she hadn't just punched me. Or ever bullied me in school, or ever made fun of my friendship with Caleb, or ever called me ugly. You get the point.

"She's also the most hideous thing to walk into this house, but you and your stupid friends don't care because you want her just because she's rich." Ouch. "We're rich! Why don't your stupid friends want to go out with me?" she asks.

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard! We don't like her because she's rich, you idiot. She's more than money. And if you think that's the reason I invite her to my parties, then you need to call that counselor you were supposed to last year and talk to her about your ideas." Yikes.

I didn't realize I'd started to cry until Michaela hugs me.

"She's right, I should just go," I say and try to tear away from Michaela.

"What are you talking about?" Justin asks. "No one wants you to leave, except for Gwen. And Gwen's opinion doesn't exactly matter."

I think he's trying to make me laugh, but it doesn't work. I just stare at him through my tears. Most of the others are nodding along, except for Justin and Caleb. Does he really have nothing to say?

"Plus you're hot as fuck, I sure don't mind you being around," Kenan adds with a smile. I think he's trying to be kind. Justin looks like he just lost function of his brain.

"Thanks, Justin," I manage, ignoring Kenan, as Lucas walks into the kitchen with a disgusted look on his face. He looks at me, and probably sees red cheeks and puffy eyes, and looks at Justin, whose jaw is still on the ground. Then he looks at the guys, who look at him. Then he sees Kenan, who's standing at the front of the pack.

"What did I miss?" He asks unhappily.